Envy
by Shimizu Hitomi
Summary: Oneshot ficlet snippet thing. Whatever Ayame wanted, he had always gotten. no pairings


**Disclaimer:** Furuba is not mine.

**Summary:** Oneshot ficlet snippet thing. Whatever Ayame wanted, he had always gotten.  
**Pairings: **None!  
**Rating: **K

**Notes:** I originally wrote this as a little personal exercise in preparation for taking on Ayame in a Fruits Basket RPG scheduled to start this Friday. (Haven't posted it in my LJ character journal yet... not sure if I will.) Thought it turned out surprisingly decent, so decided to share it here, slightly tweaked. Timeline for this is sometime post-Kana and pre-Tohru (and thus pre-game, as the RPG timeline starts immediately after the events of Volume 11). Some little details here, though, take into consideration recent revelations in the manga... So though I don't think there are any blatant spoilers, consider yourself warned. :P

* * *

**Envy**

Whatever Ayame wanted, he had always gotten. It had been that way ever since he was born, and not once had he ever questioned it. It was only natural -- expected, even. He had brains, though he seldom bothered to use them, immense talent and charisma, and such inhuman beauty that dazzled nearly everyone who met him into imbecility.

To put it simply, he was irresistable.

He understood this perhaps only on a subconscious level, but for him that was enough. He had a certain taste for drama; such things suited him well. He found no need to analyze the situation further. He was popular, though perhaps not respected. He did what he wanted and no one tried to stop him, or even if they did, he simply smiled and talked and flirted until his victims were hopelessly flustered, then flounced away before they even knew what had hit them. He did things because he knew he could get away with them, and he did. Every single time.

Those immune to his charm had remained few throughout the years -- most of them Sohmas who had grown tired of his flamboyant act and the insubstantial fluff they thought they perceived behind it -- but a snake wears and sheds many skins throughout his lifetime, and only three individuals had ever managed to glimpse at something of what truly lay within.

_Mine_, for in many ways she was the same as him, though perhaps more approachable, less selfish, less cruel.

And the other two... Shigure and Hatori.

_The three of them shared a bond even deeper than the bond that tied together all twelve of the cursed Sohmas._

_(a dream... of sadness and belonging...)_

_They were the eldest of the current generation of Juunishi; all three of them born within the same year. Hatori, the eldest, born at the height of summer; Shigure the next, during the vague blustery days teetering between autumn and winter; and he himself the youngest, born as the last weeks and days of the year trickled away. All three two months premature, as all cursed children were. All three within months of each other._

_An omen, perhaps._

Outsiders assumed Hatori and he were the polar opposites of their little trio, with Shigure as the one balancing them out. Those more aware would see that it was in fact Hatori who held the three of them together.

But sometimes Ayame thought that none of them were right. When he actually bothered to, which was not often, he could see the traces of darkness lurking behind Shigure's playful, carefree mask; the frost steadily creeping back into Hatori's very being; the heartless, petty cruelty buried deep within himself. Shigure and Hatori, he thought, were flip sides of a coin. Twins -- Gure-san the evil to Tori-san's goodness, much like Hatsuharu's Black and White. And he... he was the silvery gray in between.

He was the luckiest of the three of them in many ways, he knew. They had all breezed relatively easily through their lives so far, had all been successful in their chosen careers -- only natural, for even the lowliest of Sohmas was gifted with talent and potential. Failure for a Sohma was practically unheard of. (Save for the Cat, who was never even given a chance to prove itself -- but who ever gave thought to the Cat? Certainly not Ayame.) But he knew that when an outsider looked at the three of them, they would see that he was the freest, the most unburdened, the least bound to the Sohma clan and to _her_.

_(freedom... though perhaps only superficial...)_

Everything he had ever wanted and more.

Even so... He envied them, Gure-san and Tori-san both -- Hatori to the point where the line between envy and worship had long ago blurred into an intense, unspeakable respect.

He envied them, yes... And yet he could not say why.

* * *

From several sites, Tori -- Cancer, Gure -- Scorpio, Aya -- Sagittarius (Ahaha, so true). 

I think the characterization might feel a little off if you've only seen the anime, and even maybe for manga readers who are not caught up to the latest chapter and/or those who do not read in between the lines of what little is shown of these older characters, Shigure and Ayame especially. The Mabudachi Trio is certainly fun, but at the same time much darker than most people would like to think. And if you pay attention, the three of them really have the strangest dynamics.

Then again, on Ayame's part this is all just my interpretation I guess... (There's absolutely no question that Shigure is an Evil Plotting Bastard who is really quite sinister at certain points in the manga and utterly amoral to boot, though that doesn't detract from my liking of him at all -- in fact, totally enhances it XD) But admittedly I do not really understand the overflow of weepy/angsty!Aya (Aya. Does. Not. Angst. XD XD XD), uber-femme!Aya, and idiot!Aya in fanfics. Well, no, I can understand idiot!Aya. But when you really get down and start analyzing Ayame and his relationships with his mother, Yuki, Mine, Mayu, Gure and Hatori... It's really terribly fascinating. He's a lot deeper than it seems.


End file.
